The invention relates to a mobile computer system, a method for operation and a use of such a computer system.
The term xe2x80x9ccomputer systemxe2x80x9d used here especially comprises systems built of those computer components which are known from conventional personal computers (PCs) and operate according to commonly used standards. Merely as examples of such standard components or standards mention may be made of: central processing units in the form of a Pentium CPU (containing processor, co-processor, cache memory and cache controller on a single chip), bus systems in accordance with standards such as ISA, EISA, PCI, peripheral equipment such as hard disks, keyboards and displays with assigned controllers for connection to common bus systems or for connection via special adaptors (e.g. SCSI controllers) which in turn are to be connected to common bus systems, and interface devices connected via a bus (e.g. in accordance with the RS-232-C standard) etc.
Mobile computer systems are known, for example, as laptop computers or notebook computers. Although these computers can in principle be used in any location and especially in vehicles, these systems are in no way adapted to the conditions typical of vehicles, except for their handiness, so that their actual use in vehicles generally serves to deal with special tasks, for example, writing a text using a text processing program, sending a fax via a mobile telephone connected to the system or the operation of a GPS navigation system with the aid of a GPS receiver connected to the system. In such applications the mobile computer system is usually positioned on a passenger seat, for example, in the vehicle. Of the vehicle""s own electrical or electronic components, usually only a power supply connection is used in this case. It is an object of the present invention to enlarge the usage and range of application of a mobile computer system in a vehicle and especially to facilitate or simplify the possibility of connecting the vehicle""s own electrical or electronic components.
According to a first aspect of the invention, a mobile computer system having a casing is provided, which accommodates at least one central processing unit for processing digital data and a storage device for storing digital data, and having interface connections for input and/or output of digital data, wherein the casing has external dimensions such that the computer system is suitable for building into a cavity of a vehicle, provided for building in a car radio or the like. By this means the possibility is advantageously provided that the system can be built into a vehicle in a simple fashion and without special positioning expenditure. It should be noted here that the cavity provided for building in a car radio or the like is usually favourable both with respect to operation and also with respect to connection to the vehicle electrics or the vehicle electronics.
It is preferably provided that the casing is substantially rectangular and has external dimensions in the range of 170 mm to 190 mm in width, in the range of 40 mm to 60 mm in height and in the range of 160 mm to 180 mm in depth. With these dimensions, the system is especially well suited for installation in many types of vehicle, whether during the initial fitting or installed subsequently. In particular, it is advantageous if these dimensions are provided in conformance with DIN-ISO 7736.
A number of measures have proved especially advantageous for implementing such a small computer system nevertheless having a high capacity. For example, in order to save space inside the casing, it can be provided that a board substantially completely taking up the internal width and internal depth of the casing is provided in the casing near the upper side or the lower side of the casing. The terms xe2x80x9cwidthxe2x80x9d, xe2x80x9cheightxe2x80x9d, xe2x80x9cupper sidexe2x80x9d, xe2x80x9clower sidexe2x80x9d etc. used here merely serve to define a xe2x80x9ccoordinate systemxe2x80x9d inherently fixed in the system, to which reference is made during the description of the invention. Naturally, spatial directions thus defined can change their roles depending on the mounting position of the system in a vehicle. The space saving associated with the arrangement of the board near the upper side or the lower side is further increased if this board carries a large proportion of the computer system components and the components carried by the board are substantially only mounted on one side. In any case, the board is then xe2x80x9cnearxe2x80x9d the side of the casing if the clearance between the board and the casing side is a maximum of 20% of the corresponding internal dimension of the casing.
In a preferred embodiment a further board is arranged near the opposite lower side or upper side of the casing, which takes up a substantially smaller area and only carries components of a power supply for the system. Advantageously, there is provided in this power supply a device for converting a typical on-board voltage into normal supply voltages for personal computers. This further board is also preferably equipped on one side so that the equipped flat sides of the boards are facing one another. A substantial advantage of this arrangement is the possibility of simply providing a stream of cooling air which cools the component of both boards at the same time. Furthermore, with this arrangement components especially far from the particular board can be arranged in a spatially nested fashion (intermeshing in a comb-like fashion). If the further board is equipped on both sides, it is preferable if at least the power electronics components (not digital electronics), that is the components which generate a large amount of heat, are arranged facing the former board.
In a further development of the invention, the interface connections at a rear side of the casing are arranged in several planes, namely a principal plane near the plane of the board which carries the central processing unit and other essential system components for operation of the computer system, and at least one secondary plane at some distance from this, wherein in the principal plane there are arranged principal interfaces selected from the group consisting of a network connection (e.g. for connection of a laptop or another system according to the invention), a FireWire connection, a USB connection, a PS/2 connection, a serial interface connection, sound card connections and a display connection (especially VGA or DVI connection), whereas in the secondary plane or planes there are arranged secondary interfaces selected from the group consisting of game port connections, parallel interface connections and connections for external floppy disk or hard disk drives.
In a preferred embodiment, the system comprises an interface device together with an interface connection for input and/or output of digital data to a vehicle""s own bus using a so-called CAN (Controller Area network) standard.
It is further advantageous if the central processing unit is thermally connected to the inside of the casing section via a heat-dissipating plate for removal of heat, and air cooling means are provided to produce a heat-dissipating air flow past the central processing unit, wherein the air cooling means transfers the air flow which has passed the central processing unit, subsequently along to the outside of this casing section. In this case, the central processing unit which is usually especially sensitive with respect to the ambient temperature is cooled to a certain extent both passively (by heat conduction e.g. in a copper plate) and also actively (by convection in an air flow), wherein the cooling air flow is further used for cooling that section of the casing which forms the heat sink of the passive cooling. The heat-dissipating plate is preferably bent into an L-shape, wherein flat sides at both ends of the plate are thermally coupled to the processing unit or the inside of the casing section via a heat-conducting paste. In order to carry out the passive cooling especially efficiently, the central processing unit is preferably arranged near the relevant section of the casing, especially with a clearance between the processing unit and the inside of the casing section of a maximum of 20% of the relevant internal dimension of the casing. It is especially suited for the afore-mentioned double (passive and active) cooling if an electric fan is arranged built into a side wall of the casing, which takes the air from the inside of the casing and emits this in a direction along the outside of this side wall.
In a further development of the invention, the mobile computer system comprises:
a primary bus connected to the central processing unit, and
a first switching arrangement connected to the primary bus, hereinafter called the first bridge, for provision of a first secondary bus according to a first standard (preferably a PCI standard or a newer standard such as PC 104 plus), wherein computer system components according to the first standard and at least one plug connector are connected at the first secondary bus,
wherein at the plug connector several connections not used according to the first standard are connected to signal leads of the system such that at the plug connector there are all the signals necessary for a second switching arrangement, hereinafter called the second bridge, for the provision of a second secondary bus according to a second standard (preferably an ISA standard) which differs from the first standard.
Computer systems with several secondary buses according to different standards and the necessary bridges e.g. in the form of chip sets, are inherently known. The connections not used according to the standard of the first secondary bus are also in fact not used in the prior art. The signals used according to the first standard are fed together with other signals via a fixed wiring of the motherboard of the second bridge so that this can provide the second secondary bus. The further signals are necessary for this. The arrangement described above, preferred in the framework of the invention, accordingly provides that all the signals necessary for the provision of the second secondary bus are thus already available at the connections of a plug connector of the first primary bus, and thus differs physically from the known systems. The decisive advantage of the innovation is that the mobile computer system offers the option of an extension without additional costs using a second bridge connected via the plug connector. The second bridge can, for example, be provided as a push-in card which is to be plugged in directly into the plug connector and, on the other hand, has plug connectors for the second secondary bus or can be connected to such plug connectors. In contrast, according to the prior art, only a non-extendable system with a single primary bus can be manufactured at the same cost or a previously extended system (with two or more secondary buses) can be manufactured.
According to a second aspect of the invention, a mobile computer system is provided, wherein sensor means are provided to detect ambient conditions of the computer system or the environment of components of the computer system as well as means of prohibition for limiting or preventing any operation of the computer system or any operation of components of the computer system, and wherein these sensor means and prohibition means are operated permanently in order to temporarily restrict or prevent the operation of the computer system or the operation of computer system components when predetermined ambient conditions exist. It is thus possible to adapt the operation of the system or individual system components to the changing ambient conditions in a vehicle and to carry out this operation safely for all system components. Under certain (impermissible) ambient conditions, operation or starting up a computer system component could lead to damage or even destruction thereof. The term xe2x80x9cenvironmentxe2x80x9d covers in the broadest sense the spatial area whose temperature, vibrations etc., can adversely effect the functioning capability of the relevant system components or the system. This environment especially comprises the inside of a component. For example, if the temperature in the area of an LCD display or a hard disk is too high or too low when starting up these devices, this can lead to permanent damage. Such damage is reliably avoided by the above measure, wherein in addition to detecting the temperature, it is also advantageous to detect any moisture or, vibration or other ambient parameters. Hereby it is provided that operation of an affected system component is only limited or prevented as long as the impermissible ambient condition persists. This has the major advantage that when impermissible ambient conditions do not exist, the respective system components can be automatically re-activated. For example, a display connected to the computer system via an interface can be switched off as long as the temperature prevailing locally at the display is impermissible for this display. During a switch-off phase of a component, the system as such can continue to be operated as long as the switched-off component is not essential for operation of the system. If an essential component such as the central data processing unit is switched off, this leads to switching off the computer system as such. In this case, the system can advantageously also restart (boot) completely automatically as soon as permissible ambient conditions are detected for all essential components. In other words, the capacity of the computer system is optimally matched to the ambient conditions (which frequently change in a vehicle).
In a preferred embodiment the sensor means and prohibition means are jointly supplied by a permanent power supply which normally supplies all the computer system components and with the aid of the prohibition means is acted upon with suitable control signals to interrupt the power supply to the component or components concerned when impermissible ambient conditions exist. By means of this power supply the operation (switch off) of components can be prevented in a simple fashion. In order to limit the operation of a component, it can be provided that suitable control signals are supplied from the prohibition means to controllers of the component.
In a further development of the invention it is provided that at least one component of the computer system has a storage unit in which permissible operating conditions with respect to the environment of this component are permanently stored in the form of digital data and can be retrieved (preferably in a ROM, EPROM or EEPROM component). In this case the system component carries in it information on its permissible ambient conditions, wherein this information is usable as part of the invention in a simple fashion by retrieving digital data. It is thus, for example, easily possible to further ensure the safety and optimum matching of the computer system if a system component is exchanged for a component that is more or less sensitive with respect to an ambient parameter. Alternatively or additionally, for example, permissible temperature ranges can be stored in the BIOS component.
According to a further aspect a of the invention, especially in connection with the method last described for temporary limitation or prevention of the operation of the system or components thereof, there is provided a method for operation of a mobile computer system in a vehicle that is fitted with a plurality of electronic components as well as an air-conditioning device for local air conditioning of the vehicle, wherein temperatures and/or humidities in the environment of the electronic components are permanently detected and assessed in a programme-controlled fashion by means of the computer system to determine whether the ambient temperatures or humidities allow safe operation of the electronic components of the vehicle and wherein the environment of the electronic components is locally air-conditioned by means of the computer system in a program-controlled fashion as long as ambient temperatures or humidities assessed as critical exist. Important here is the detection and assessment of local parameters by means of the computer system and the control of a vehicle""s own air-conditioning device for local air conditioning. The computer system therefore intervenes in a controlling fashion in the electronics of the vehicle in order to ensure its climate for reliable operation of the electronic components concerned.
If the components to be air-conditioned are connected to a vehicle""s own CAN bus, the temperatures and/or humidities are preferably detected by means of sensors which are also connected to the CAN bus, and the computer system preferably has a CAN bus connection so that the detected data can be read in via this special interface in a simple fashion and can be processed. In the presence of a CAN bus, the air-conditioning device can generally also be controlled via this bus so that the computer system can then transmit control commands to control this air-conditioning device via the CAN bus.
According to a further aspect of the invention, the method last described can be generalised to a use of a mobile computer system in a vehicle for control of electronic components via a vehicle""s own bus to which the computer system is connected. Especially intended here is the CAN bus frequently used in modern vehicles wherein these methods or uses can of course easily be transferred to future standards of such bus systems used to produce a reciprocal communication connection between individual vehicle components or a central vehicle electronic system (on-board computer). The computer system according to the invention can now additionally be connected to the vehicle""s own bus in order to achieve new functionalities in a flexible fashion. It should be noted at this point that the connection to the vehicle bus generally already presents no problems because vehicles mostly have a suitable bus connection in the form of a plug connector which is hitherto only used for diagnostics purposes.
In one embodiment of the invention the computer system is used to detect conditions obtaining in the environment of the vehicle and for storage in the form of digital data in a storage device of the computer system, especially for video recording of an environment of the vehicle and storage of video data in the storage device. This use is interesting, for example, for monitoring the safety of money transportation vehicles. In this application, the storage can be accomplished in such a way that the stored data only represents a limited period of time whose beginning is a pre-determined time interval back, thus for example, only represents the last hour. In a further development it is provided that the detected data are evaluated in real time by means of the computer system in order to assess whether processes are taking place in the environment of the vehicle which are of relevance for the application concerned, e.g. should trigger a further notification. The video data can be evaluated using inherently known image analysis methods which can be carried out in a program-controlled fashion on the mobile computer. Alternatively, stored video data can be not evaluated in real time but (e.g. from time to time) can be transferred to a stationary computer (e.g. a mainframe computer) for evaluation.
In a further embodiment, the mobile computer system is used as an xe2x80x9celectronic tachographxe2x80x9d, that is for recording time-resolved vehicle data such as the speed but also the location (using GPS position determination) or other variables of state of individual vehicle components. In this way, the computer system can also be used as an accident detector (black box) wherein the digital data recorded directly before an accident can be used to reconstruct the accident. With reference to the possibility of an accident and especially when used as an accident detector, it is preferable if the digital data are recorded on a storage medium which is not sensitive to vibrations during operation, especially a so-called memory card (flash card). Such storage media are available with capacities of 3 GB or more so that video recording of an appreciable time interval can thus be made. Finally, in a further embodiment the use of the computer system for controlling xe2x80x9centertainment componentsxe2x80x9d of the vehicle via the vehicle""s own bus is provided. The control of a television receiver may be mentioned here as an example. Alternatively, entertainment functions can be provided by the mobile computer system itself. For example, fully functional television receivers or car radios can be provided in the form of computer system components whose output means (display, loudspeaker etc.) can also be realised by corresponding system components, wherein especially a display as well as a sound card with connected loudspeakers can be used as part of the invention for quite different functionalities, for example, for navigation, for television reception and for video games.